The Layer Cake Draft

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 20...

Andy Lloyd

Nominated by: @CerealKiller

Rejected by: None

Test stats: 10 runs in 1 match
First-class career: 17,211 runs @ 34.28 (29 centuries, best 208*) in 312 matches

Andy Lloyd's entire Test career lasted only 30 minutes because at that time in his debut - on his home ground no less - Lloyd had his face broken by a Malcolm Marshall bouncer. It didn't just end his match: it hospitalised him for a week and ended his season. He was proper tweaked, and was never the same player again.

And the player goes to... @Bevab

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 21...

Paul Stirling

Nominated by: Reserve Player

Rejected by: None

Test stats: 104 runs @ 17.33 (best 36) in 3 matches
First-class stats: 2,932 runs @ 27.92 (6 centuries, best 146) in 70 matches

Honestly, in my head Paul Stirling is pretty good at red-ball cricket. I mean clearly he isn't; if he wasn't a destroyer of worlds in white-ball cricket, I can't imagine he'd have managed to hold down a county deal for as long as he did, let alone play three Test matches. It does also help that the Irish talent pool is more of a talent puddle.

And the player goes to... @ahmedleo414

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 22...



Benjamin Aislabie

Nominated by: @Aislabie

Rejected by: None

First-class stats: 224 runs @ 3.15 (best 15*) in 56 matches

Oh my goodness I'm so sorry. I just couldn't resist somebody ending up with the worst first-class cricketer of all time. On the bright side, you do get to have Sybrand Engelbrecht as your substitute fielder - Aislabie was almost perfectly round by the time he finished his first-class career as a 67-year-old, so opposing teams used to just let him have a substitute fielder. Presumably out of pity.

And the player goes to... @DalePlaysCricket (once again, I can only apologise)

 

[Ed Smith]

You've absolutely done me there like

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 23...

Ross Taylor

Nominated by: @DalePlaysCricket

Rejected by: @ahmedleo414

Test stats: 7,238 runs @ 46.10 (19 centuries, best 290) in 101 matches
First-class stats: 11,745 runs @ 42.86 (27 centuries, best 290) in 177 matches

Ross Taylor is one of the three or four greatest batsmen his country has ever produced, but has had the blessing and curse of batting one place below the man widely considered to be the greatest, Nevertheless, since Taylor got eye surgery to restore his sight, his batting output grew substantially (who could have seen it coming?) and he absolutely had the match of the more illustrious Williamson.

And the player goes to... @blockerdave (seriously this is getting silly now)[DOUBLEPOST=1584053213][/DOUBLEPOST]

You've absolutely done me there like

I'm going to order the final layer of the draft to counterbalance the absolute kippering that's just befallen you, worry not

 

[Ed Smith]

You're going to need to start fixing it so @blockerdave gets some shitters here

 

[ahmedleo414]

Jaques is seriously going to have to carry my team

 

[blockerdave]

You're going to need to start fixing it so @blockerdave gets some shitters here

if i get any now i'll cry fix and demand a re-count

 

[Ed Smith]

if i get any now i'll cry fix and demand a re-count

You're not even picking and you've had everyone's pants down. I'm over here relying on Ricky Pointing getting consistent triple 100s just to get a par score

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 24...

Andrew Flintoff

Nominated by: @Dutch

Rejected by: @DalePlaysCricket / @Master Bates

Test stats: 3,845 runs @ 31.77 (5 centuries, best 167) and 226 wickets @ 32.78 (3 5WI, best 5/58) in 79 matches
First-class stats: 9,027 runs @ 33.80 (15 centuries, best 167) and 350 wickets @ 31.59 (4 5WI, best 5/24) in 183 matches

The popular and effervescent all-rounder was the talisman of Michael Vaughan's Ashes winning side. His stats don't exactly speak of a great cricketer, which is because for a large portion of his career he wasn't one. But for one summer, as the whole country watched, he was legendary.

And the player goes to... @El Loco

 

[CerealKiller]

Warne-O’Reilly is the perfect spin duo i could’ve asked for, short of Murali-Warne

 

[blockerdave]

You're not even picking and you've had everyone's pants down. I'm over here relying on Ricky Pointing getting consistent triple 100s just to get a par score

to be fair there’s some pretty tasty players grasped so far... @Aislabie has Greenidge, Imran & Younis Khan

I’ve just been pretty lucky that this far I haven’t had a mediocre player

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 25...

Denis Compton

Nominated by: @El Loco

Rejected by: None

Test stats: 5,807 runs @ 50.06 (17 centuries, best 278) and 25 wickets @ 56.40 (1 5WI, best 5/70) in 78 matches
First-class stats: 38,942 runs @ 51.85 (123 centuries, best 300) and 622 wickets @ 32.27 (19 5WI, best 7/36) in 514 matches

Denis Compton was one of the great sporting all-rounders, and charismatic too; in terms of pure popularity, he was Botham before Botham. An elegant batsman, an underrated chinaman bowler and international footballer, he was a natural choice to be the face of Brylcreem. But let none of that take away from the heights he reached with the bat, which included flaying a triple-century in just three hours against Transvaal.

And the player goes to... @DalePlaysCricket

 

[blockerdave]

Now he's a player!

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 26...

Monty Panesar

Nominated by: @Aislabie

Rejected by: @Aislabie

Test stats: 167 wickets @ 34.71 (12 5WI, best 6/37) in 50 matches
First-class stats: 709 wickets @ 31.22 (39 5WI, best 7/60) in 219 matches

When Monty Panesar first burst onto the scene, fans thought they'd found a new Phil Tufnell, but then were let down when he turned out to be a delusional, wife-beating and bouncer-wetting man, and a long way from a hero. Honestly, I mostly nominated him just so I could show the value of both nominating and rejecting the same player. Now one of you guys has to work around Monty.

And the player goes to... @El Loco